How many animals die of poaching each year

The current rhino poaching crisis began in , with increasing numbers of rhino killed for their horn throughout Africa until Thankfully, poaching numbers have decreased across the continent since the peak of 1, in Yet, a rhino is still killed every day: there is a lot more to do. At recorded poaching incidents in South Africa in , poaching numbers have declined significantly in recent years, but are still too high. Thankfully, the numbers show a substantial decrease compared to the previous year rhino poaching dropped by one third.

However, this positive — and very welcome — decrease does not mean rhinos are now thriving. On average in the country, a rhino is killed for its horn every 22 hours. And, the latest numbers show that rhino populations, particularly in key strongholds such as Kruger National Park, in South Africa, have fallen dramatically.

The long-term impact of the poaching crisis, and the extended periods of drought, are taking their toll. Without urgent action, their numbers could dwindle.

One of the challenges that the ongoing poaching crisis brings is that it diverts attention from other actions that are important for rhinos to thrive in the future. South Africa has by far the largest population of rhinos in the world and is an incredibly important country for rhino conservation. More troubling still: Many African countries have contended with poaching troubles for years. While the population of various endangered species varies widely across Africa, the total number of animals killed since threatens the biodiversity of the entire continent.

Indeed, between January and January , nearly 2, elephants and roughly 6, rhinos had been slaughtered at the hands of poachers in South Africa and Kenya alone.

While this video demonstrates steadily mounting death tolls, specific intervals saw a bloody acceleration in poaching activity. Sadly, elephants have been victimized more often recently, with poaching fatalities increasing more than percent in Many conservationists take heart in the recent decline in rhino poaching, which they attribute to an increased emphasis on enforcement.

South African officials arrested poachers and traffickers in , which may correlate with a significant drop in rhino deaths that year. While not all of these deaths are directly attributed to poaching, the region is home to particularly ruthless criminal syndicates.

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They live in a reality where their livestock - cows, sheep, goats - are killed by big cats and hyenas, where crops are trampled or eaten by elephants and other grazers, and where their children are at risk from death or injury by simply walking to school. The man who was trampled was no different. One horn. It never ends well. They risk being shot, killed by animals and best case scenario, face lengthy prison sentences.

This will not deter other poachers. The middlemen simply increase the bounty and once again, more young men will appear to either kill wildlife, or die trying. Local communities are being exploited to feed the East Asia market and in turn, enabling illegal crime syndicates to profit massively. In some extreme circumstances, these syndicates have even been known to kidnap or financially disable families to coerce them into following their orders.

The layers and layers of middlemen between the source - criminal networks primarily in China and Vietnam - mean that the original instigators, the kingpins, rarely face justice.